Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missiles hit close to nuclear reactors: IAEA director

Shelling is ongoing near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Last Updated: August 24, 2023, 10:20 AM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

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Jul 18, 2022, 1:45 PM EDT

Ukraine's first lady to address Congress on Wednesday

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will make remarks Wednesday before members of Congress on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.

All members of the House and Senate are invited to the event, which is set for 11 a.m ET.

PHOTO: Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, walks out of the State Department, Monday, July 18, 2022 in Washington, after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Olena Zelenska,Oksana Markarova 7/18/2022 3:57:16 PM Olena Zelenska 7/18/2022 3:57:18 PM Olena Zelenska 7/18/2022 3:57:18 PM Olena Zelenska 7/18/2022 3:57:19 PM Olena Zelenska 7/18/2022 3:57:18 PM Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, walks out of the State Department, Monday, July 18, 2022 in Washington, after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a closed-to-press meeting.
Patrick Semansky/AP

Jul 18, 2022, 8:56 AM EDT

Russia orders troops to eliminate Ukraine's long-range missiles

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited the East group of Russian forces involved in the fighting in Ukraine and ordered his troops to eliminate the Ukrainian army's long-range missiles and artillery ammunition it uses to shell targets in the Donbas region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Shoigu instructed the group's commander to give priority to the use of precision-guided weapons to destroy Ukraine's long-range missile and artillery assets, the ministry added. Russia has accused Ukraine of using its long-range weapons to shell residential neighborhoods in Donbas communities and set fire to wheat fields and grain storage facilities.

Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles struck targets across much of eastern Ukraine on Sunday and early Monday.

This photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on July 16, 2022, shows Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, speaking during a meeting at an undisclosed location.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Six people were killed in the town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region after Russian shelling, the state emergency service said. Missiles also struck civilian infrastructure, including a school in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.

Russia also carried out 55 strikes on the Sumy region on Sunday. Around 60 projectiles landed in Nikopol, a dozen residential buildings were damaged and one elderly woman was wounded, local officials said.

The southern city of Mykolaiv was subjected to a massive missile strike in the early hours of Sunday as 10 missiles, presumably launched by an S-300 system, hit various parts of town.

Russian officials said on Monday that no clear timeframes have been set for the war in Ukraine, and priority should be given to its efficiency.

Rescuers work at the ruins of a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 18, 2022.
State Emegrency Service Of Ukraine via Reuters

"We have no doubts that the special military operation will be completed after all of its objectives are attained. There are no clear timeframes, what counts most is this operation's efficiency," Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said as quoted by Russian media.

Officials from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic claimed on Monday that DPR territory will be liberated from the Ukrainian military this year.

“The liberation of Donbas will be completed this year,” Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the police department of the DPR, said according to Russian media.

-ABC News' Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, and Max Uzol

Jul 17, 2022, 6:20 PM EDT

Number of Ukrainian public officials accused of treason, collaborating with Russia: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, in Crimea, who was dismissed in the beginning of the Russian invasion, has been notified he is being charged with treason.

"Everyone who together with him was part of a criminal group that worked in the interests of the Russian Federation will also be held accountable," Zelenskyy said during his evening address Sunday. "It is about the transfer of secret information to the enemy and other facts of cooperation with the Russian special services."

A number of Ukrainian public officials have been notified they will be charged for treason and for collaborating with Russia.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Jul 17, 2022, 2:20 PM EDT

'Evil cannot win': Priest breaks down at funeral for 4-year-old Ukrainian girl

A funeral service was held Sunday for a 4-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was among two dozen Ukrainian civilian's killed last week in a Russian missile attack in the west-central Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia.

Liza Dmitrieva, a 4-year-old who died in a Russian missile strike, is pictured in an undated photo in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
Logoclub Children's Center via Reuters

During the open-casket funeral for Liza Dmytrieva, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest broke down in tears as he told the little girl's father and other relatives, "evil cannot win," according to The Associated Press.

Liza was pushing a stroller in a park as she and her mother were headed to a speech therapist appointment when the attack unfolded Thursday afternoon in Vinnytsia, a city close to the front lines in west-central Ukraine, officials said.

The girl and 23 others Ukrainian civilians were killed, including two boys ages 7 and 8. At least 200 other civilians, including Liza's mother, were injured, officials said.

People packed the 18th-century Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia for the girl's funeral. The child's mother, Iryna Dmytrieva, 33, remains in grave condition in a hospital and her family said they have not been able to tell her about the death of her daughter, according to The Associated Press.

"Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you," Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, as she caressed the child lying in an open casket filled with teddy bears and flowers.

Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych gave the eulogy at Liza's funeral struggling through tears.

“I didn’t know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm because every burial is grief for each of us," Holoskevych said. "We are losing our brothers and sisters."

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